Below me, the city buzzes, traffic growls, and the occasional burst of voices from the street steadies me. All is normal.
Rhys took away my old scope last month and called me a bad girl. I shivered with that same arousal, but I marched right back to my laptop and ordered an upgraded version.
He challenged me, and I didn’t want to disappoint him.
With the new and improved camera, I watched him get ready for work earlier. He wore his tight black pants, black shirt, and a leather jacket that I could smell from under the door. He filled holsters with guns and sheaths with knives.
With that weaponry, he’ll be gone for hours. That gives me time to check on Little Basil, Cami, Minty, Rosemary, Cory, and the others.
Cold concrete bites my palms as I grip the last brick. The temperature is dropping fast, and I have to consider that this ledge will get icy. There’s no brain power to fight that. I already almost fell to my death once.
The latch sticks like always, but it’s not locked, and I know the trick. Press in on the left corner, then lift. After a little squeal of metal, it pops open, and I swing one leg, then the other over the sill, landing softly on the tile of his kitchen.
“Hello, babies,” I whisper.
The plants crowd the stand, their leaves turning toward me as if they’d been waiting for my arrival. Little Basil’s leaves trail down like green ribbons, Cami glistens plump and satisfied, and Rosemary gives me a shy yellow face.
“You’re thirsty, I know.” I run my fingers across the dry soil of each pot.
Little Basil sighs in my head,‘Took you long enough, Fallon.’
Snarky, just like his brother.
“I had to wait until Rhys went to work.”
I fill up the watering can I bought for him and tip just enough into each pot. Not too much. I never drown them. They drink greedily, and I hear soft murmurs of drowsy content like infants or newborn puppies with full bellies.
On the counter, the coriander plant stretches toward me, impatient.‘Me next, me next!’
“Of course, Cory.”
After his drink, I trim back some yellowing leaves with special clippers I tucked into my back pocket. The kitchen now smells sharp, sweet, and alive.
‘He keeps forgetting about us,’Minty says.
Sighing, I say, “He’s very busy. You’re here to brighten his days and flavor his food.” I don’t tell them he kills people. “I’m here to water you.”
‘If you asked me, I think he neglects us so you come over,’Rosemary says in her very NewYawkaccent.
“You think so, Rose?” Smiling, I put the watering can away and run my hands over each leaf.
I chat softly about my day, about Neverland Garden. How Thorn let me prune his rose buds, about how Ronald’s spinach finally sprouted. The plants chortle back, delighted to hear gossip like old women in church pews.
Curiosity tickles me, and I glance into the living room.My eyes snag on a patch of darkness. A shadow from the hallway that leads to Rhys’s bedroom.
Does it still smell like him? I was only in there for a few seconds, and my head was spiraling. I’m perfectly calm now. I have brain space to take it all in and store it in the vault.
Rosemary, bossy and insistent, pushes into my thoughts again.‘Go on. You know you want to.’
My cheeks burn. “That’s private.”
‘He won’t mind. You’re his girlfriend.’
I fiddle with her fuzzy leaf, letting it rest between my fingers.
Rose is right. Iamhis girlfriend. Rhys doesn’t yell when he finds me in here. He doesn’t throw me out. Sometimes he even thanks me for taking care of his plants.
Our plants.
